The real food for the soul

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Once upon a time I attempted to stage a hunger strike. Reason? I had been compelled to have ugali for supper for the fourth consecutive  night!!! I was aggrieved. Did we not have anything better to put on the table? I wanted rice or spaghetti, anything other than ugali!!! In a bold show of defiance, I exited the dinner table and proceeded to sulk in the belief I would have my way.

  

Given the African family setting, it’s fair to say you can guess what happened next. Definitely not the rice or spaghetti I had wanted, instead, I was forced to swallow my pride. Literally. I begrudgingly ate ugali that night and never attempted to pull such a stunt again. The memory has me shaking my head in disbelief because fast forward to the present you could never catch me doing something like that. Not solely out of respect for my parents but also my appreciation for Ugali.

Back then, my young mind couldn’t fathom the vast awesomeness of Ugali, now though, I am the wiser. You see, Ugali is more than Kenya’s staple or corn-meal mush as others would put it, Ugali is our gift to the world as Kenyans, other than Obama and Lupita.

Ugali isn’t just food; it is a force of nature. It makes a mockery of the principle of non-contradiction; it is the tasteless food that tastes incredible. Its versatility is the stuff of wonders. Being a starchy food, you could have it with the usual beef, chicken, fish, termites....yes, I did say termites those insects that fly around during the rain. You could decide to go for beans, ndengu or one of my favourite, scrambled eggs with tomato and onions.  You could have it with mala, one of these fine days I’m going to add cocoa or drinking chocolate to mala and have it with ugali, in my heart and head it promises it already is quite the treat.

Not only can you have it for lunch or supper, you could have ugali for breakfast with tea, you can even have it as a substitute for bread and splurge a generous serving of peanut butter on it.

Then, if the white ( vanilla flavoured) ugali isn’t to your liking, you can always make the rich-chocolate flavoured Ugali by adding wimbi. It packs a punch big time. Ugali crisps are also available if you took the vanilla mountain and scraped off the sides of the pan. Who needs Pringles or Urban bites?!! Chefs all over the world have looked to Ugali for inspiration, that’s why we have dishes like polenta, pap, pudding. These are just but derivatives; Ugali is the true and tested original.

I may have gone overboard in my description of Ugali and betrayed my ethnic roots, but I will celebrate Ugali. It took me a while to go from hunger strike to hyperbole but that’s ugali for you. My ugali story is not without purpose for it mirrors my growing appreciation for God’s word since my childhood.

Early on, all I was interested in the stories, David v Goliath, Samson  and Peter’s betrayal. The rest of the bible after the gospels and Acts and after Daniel were pages I scarcely bothered to peruse through. I considered them boring. Slowly though, I have come to realize God’s word is more than just an anthropology of short stories. It is more than just a litany of do’s and don’ts. Neither is it an antique relic irrelevant to the changing times of today. It is God’s manual for life and his love letter to us. Like Ugali I have come to love it for its overwhelming wholesomeness. It has steadily grown from food for thought to food for life.

I have come to know that it is indeed living and active and penetrates to the soul, judging the thoughts and altitudes of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12). Matthew 4:4 likens it to bread, I liken it to Ugali because of the vast, satiating nourishment it gives and the strength I amass by poring over it that not only revives my bones but my spirit and soul as well.

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The lessons I have gathered from it have been numerous. There has been the victory amidst all the odds like Gideon against Midian (Judges 6-7), David against Goliath (1 Samuel 17) or my best story of King Hezekiah against Sennacherib. (2 Kings 18:17- 2 Kings 19:37)

There have been the cases of God working his miraculous transforming power in people’ s lives, like Judah of Genesis 37:26-67 to Judah of Genesis 43:8-10 and Genesis 44:18-33. Hard to believe he is the same man. Then there is Peter who denies Jesus (Luke 22:54-62) to Peter who boldly proclaims Jesus (Acts 2:14-41) and in Acts 4:8-12. Add to that list is Saul, opposing Jesus with zeal in Acts 9:1-2, to embracing Jesus in Acts 9:20 and thereafter. God’s transforming power is incredible. It has made me hope for the best in people even when they considerably display their worst. I therefore cannot rule out change in those who appear to be a foregone conclusion.

There have been the stories of people patiently waiting for a positive change in their circumstances. I refer to those periods, as those of being in the wilderness. These stories have encouraged me during my own wilderness period of tarmacking. I look at Hannah and Elizabeth in their barrenness and then having a son.(1 Samuel 1 and Luke 1:13), Abraham’s 25 years waiting after the promise of a son that eventually sees the birth of Isaac(Genesis 12:4-Genesis 17), Joseph’s long stay in prison and ascension to royalty (Genesis 39:20- Genesis  41:39)or David’s life as a fugitive running from Saul before his reign as king. (1 Samuel 20:42- 2 Samuel 5). These people waited for years but God eventually came through and I believe he will do so for me or anyone else who puts their trust and hope in him.

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Romans 3:23 reminds me that everyone has fallen short of God’s glory, Romans 3:9-20 reinforces it. Not only that, but in saying  that no-one seeks God, no-one understands God I am convinced my righteousness is all God’s doing, not my own, so I have no right to boast of my righteousness. Neither am I surprised when victory over temptation is a struggle for some, I know my victory is because of God, without him, I would be stuck in sin far worse than those who struggle with various temptations.

I have learnt in practice of the curious case of being in a much loftier position despite being broke as opposed to someone who is rich (James 1:9-10). The lack of material wealth has made me aware of the abundant spiritual wealth of God’s presence and peace in my life amongst other gifts like family and friends.

I have learnt of the battle of the spirit and the flesh within me(Galatians 5:16-26) and my way of living by the spirit is by starving the flesh that has meant I put a stop to watching series or movies that will stir up passions within me. “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food but God will destroy them both. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.”(1 Corinthians 6:12-13) I never got the meaning of the saying about food but after the Man enough program it became clearer.  I am master of my sexual desires to God’s glory and not that my sexual desires are master over me.

Then there is the heart. Jeremiah did not mince his words when he said the heart is deceptive beyond all things (Jeremiah 17:9). A deceptive heart made me pursue a relationship and friendships in an unhealthy manner that would not be fruitful. A deceptive heart then became a bitter and wounded heart when those relationships did not materialize. For a long time I struggled with forgiveness and allowed my heart to be filled with envy and bitterness, eventually I learnt to forgive to heal my heart with God’s help.

The experience gave me a vital practical lesson on guarding one’s heart (proverbs 4:23). Not by becoming a staunch believer in the inexistence of love and being thoroughly sceptical of anyone asserting to being in love with me, but, by guarding my heart from bitterness, vengeance by just letting go. It is inevitable, that my heart will break in a world filled with broken people, no-one is perfect. I know I have hurt some people so how can I turn around and refuse to forgive those who hurt me?!  I will forgive and then be patient with them, bearing with them in love (Ephesians 4:2). With God’s help I will strive to be the embodiment of 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, how good were it to be if my name were to substitute love like this picture.

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More importantly, the bible is God revealing himself to the world. It speaks of the powerful and mighty God who created everything in Genesis.  The God who is extremely gracious and gives men what they scarcely deserve and the God who is merciful to withhold the punishment we do merit. Yet, it speaks of the God who ensures justice prevails and that the wicked are punished.

It paints the picture of the God, who is repetitively forsaken, ignored, yet mercifully listens to the desperate cries of those who ignored him not too long ago when they rush back to him crying for his help. It’s natural to struggle to understand this God but within the bible in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, previews in Isaiah 52:13-15 or in Genesis 3:15 we find God, through Jesus, coming to Earth living amongst us to show us who he really is.

We come to see God as a king who goes against the earthly principles of self-enrichment but instead prefers to enrich others at his own expense. We come face to face with the God who is concerned for the stricken, who cares for the afflicted, who is full of compassion and even weeps.(John 11:35). In his interaction with the Samaritan woman, the adulterous woman, the crippled, we see a king who cares for the lowly not just the high and mighty.

We come to see a God who preaches forgiveness, love and mercy and He then, in a spectacular show of love, mercy and grace, sacrifices himself to die for us that we may be reconciled to him.  He dies a death that we ought to have died because of our sins. He resurrects and offers eternal life to whoever believes and confesses this to be true.

That is my living hope, not just to enter heaven but to be united with this loving God. I don’t know about you, but I believe it to be true. I thank God for his word, because quite frankly, I don’t know where I would be without it. It has been my light, my strength and my hope. Like Ugali has nourished me over the years , so has God’s word and I will delight in its statutes for they are my life.

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